I'm turning into my mother.

My mom has had a long time love affair with all things pink. When I was a little girl she loved "Dusty Rose," so naturally my snotty little butt despised it. I rejected all things pink. Now, I have furniture painted in pink, I can't find enough clothes with pink roses on them... and looking into my garden there's pink EVERYWHERE. My mom's favorite rose, of course, is David Austin's Mary Rose, in full bloom now:

 

Other pinks in the garden today include this gold flame honeysuckle:

This big pink azalea that was here when I moved in:

Pale pink painted daisies:

Rose, Distant Drums: 

Columbine, McKana's Giant, from seed, changes from pinky to orchid purple as the blooms ripen.  

Coral Bells pink blooms during a rare moment without a hummingbird feeding of them:   

Peony:

The name of this rose in unknown, as I acquired it at a yard sale in nothern Wisconsin, but it is a beauty, and in just a few years it has grown so large.

I am surely becoming my mother, but its not so bad.

Panoramic Fun

I've never used the panoramic mode on my camera before. I know, punch me. I played with it the other day and had a ton of fun. I thought it was a nice way to show my mom, and most of my friends who almost all live hundreds or thousands of miles away, our yard. Not every panoramic came out quite perfect; they can get wonky and look distorted, but for the most part, they are fun looking. Enjoy!

Our front yard, driveway and driveway border garden are the left:

This is the driveway garden border:

This is the walkway to the back yard, our side door is to the right here, garage to the left:

When you get through that path you see this to your left:

This is from the very middle of our back yard, looking straight back:

From the middle of the back yard looking to the right. Kids clubhouse, future home of the pond we were given this week!!!:

Close up of the shade bed to the far right of the previous picture:

The long left side border, still filling in:

The very back of the yard, taken from the right hand rear side. Veggie garden is in the rear left of this picture, rose garden in the foreground left side, dahlias on the cement (also future home of the greenhouse), back border on the right.

Fun, huh? Can't wait to take more when the flowers are all blooming! 

Peonies in Bloom

Outside today you will find all my peonies in blooms, including those I inherited with the rental house, and those I brought with. The smell is intoxicating and heavenly. Had to share a few photos!

 

Happy Memorial Day!

Foliage

Varying shades of foliage are one of my favorite things about gardening. The more eye catching, the better. I have a repeating theme of lime and chartruese all through the garden, speckled with burgandy wines, and silvers. After a very intense rainfall last week I went around the garden to get some pictures of the beautiful colors spring has broughtabout, starting here with this lettuce, 'simpson'. Yum!

Hosta 'Fried Bananas'

Hosta 'Gold Standard'

Weigela 'Wine and Roses'

Hosta 'Stained Glass'

More lettuce, 'ruby.'

Ligularia 'The rocket'

 Hosta 'pineapple upside cake'

 Purple smokebush

Rose 'brother cadfael'

 Hosta 'June'

Yellow Bleeding Heart with allium and anemone sylvestris.

This beautiful shrub was in the landscaping when we moved in. I think it is mock orange. Bright yellow green leaves with huge whit flowersthat smell incredible.

 Newest addition, a $3.99 find! Ninebark 'Center Glow'

Hosta 'elegans' (I think)

I have more to share soon, too. My delightful neighbors gave me a bunch of great hostas I can't wait get pictures of!

Hardy Succulent Fairy Garden

I'm sure I've shared glimpses of my original fairy garden before, but it has been awhile. This is probably the 5th year I've had it... and it looked particularly photo worthy one rainy afternoon last week. I planted it in an old wagon I found at a yard sale for a steal, in the most gorgeous rust and blue patina.

 I poked a ton of holes in the bottom, and ammended potting soil with sand from my kids sandbox, and rocks from the landscaping we had at the house at the time (no joke, I'm resourceful and cheap). I found the fairy for $3 at Hobby Lobby-she's all metal, and about 7" tall. *sidenote* I was so excited about the fairy find- I was inspired by a photo from one of the owners of Tangletown Gardens in Minneapolis, MN- who had a beautiful metal fairy in a succulent bowl on his patio table in a magazine I saw back then; I later found the exact fairy at a boutique priced at $95! So my $3 fairy was jump-up-and-down-inthe-aisles kind of find. I bought the mini metal arbor at Cambria Pines Nursery, in CA, along with the fence, and the house that is supposed to look like a sand castle for $12 at Home Goods in So Cal, years ago. Various accessories have come over time. Including a turtle, a wagon, various tools, a glass cloche (beside the cottage to the left inside the fence), and the fence.

I added all the varieties of sedum and hens and chicks from various nurseries over the years, mostly from my favorite hardy perennial nursery, The Flower Factory. The moss just came naturally. I have tried a few over-wintering methods, including tipping it over in the vegetable bed, which made for a bit of putting things back together in the spring, and also leaving it exposed on the porch (the least successful, mostly due to winter wet). This winter, our first in Minnesota, I simply pulled it from the driveway into the garage. We have a freestanding garage, no heat, no added insulation. I didn't water it at all, from October until I pulled it out in late March. It looked perfect, untouched, and ready to begin growing again.

I pluck chicks and cuttings from all the sedum to keep them from filling in too much. I borrow her shovel when I dig in her dirt. No joke.  This year, I think she has her garden looking awesome. :)

Happy Spring!

Early Clematis

This is my favorite time of the gardening season. The roses are all about to pop, and the early clematis have started. I have been taking a few pictures here and there, but overall pretty excited that most of the clematis made the transition to Minnesota with ease. There were two in the yard when we got here, and now there are 45. This is one of the existing clematis I was delighted to find in the yard when we moved here, Miss Bateman:

 Blue Light:

 Unknown, possibly Dr. Ruppel?

My favorite, Elsa Spaeth:

Beautiful Lemon Chiffon:

Multi-Blue growing through Henry Kelsey rose.

 Rouge Cardinal:

Cardinal Wyzinski:

So many more to come!